A mystery murder of an elderly man suspected of being killed by maggots, that has confounded police experts and forensic scientists for more than 7 years, has finally been solved by a quick-thinking schoolboy.
Timmy Tompkinson, 8, of St Winnits Primary School in Kent, was able to deduce from evidence that the man, Alfred Dawkins, 91, had not been murdered after all, but had died of natural causes, and that the maggots had come along at a much later date.
Police had discovered the emaciated corpse of Mr Dawkins when they broke into his home to ask him the time in 2001. It was literally covered in maggots. Fifty thousand maggots were arrested, but, after insectologists expressed "grave concerns" over the parasites' ability to kill, they were released, and a murder inquiry was set up.
Criticism of the police was intense, and, when Timmy read of the story in the local newspaper, he decided to investigate himself. The next day, he told officers at Gravesend Police Station his findings.
Detective Sam Gorp takes up the story:
"This lad wandered in and said that we were all a bunch of tosspots, and explained that, as a human corpse decomposes, maggots feed off the rotting flesh. That's why we found maggots on the body. We had to hand it to him, he really knows his stuff."
CASE CLOSED
